Tiro
Tiro was reportedly a Toa Mangai of Ice. History Early Life Like many Ko-Matoran, he was created at aid in the construction of a giant mechanoid on the planet of Spherus Magna. Once it was completed, he entered the construct and settled on one of its many domes. The island held a number of races on it, with Matoran making about a sixth of the total population. It is due to their small numbers that very little Toa approach the island. In their absence, a local militia was formed to defend it. At some point in its history, he was given a Toa Stone by an ancient being and directed towards the land's Suva. Planting the stone into it transformed him into a Toa of Ice, as well as making him the only Toa in the dome. Though initially wary of him, the militia recruited him into their organization to make use of his Elemental Power. The deputy of the guild took Tiro under his wing, passing his knowledge and fighting style onto him. Around 3,500 years ago, an ancient dragon-like Rahi was rampaging across the island-city of Metru Nui. Intrigued by the news, the headmaster of the militia sent Tiro to investigate these claims. He found find them to be true and worked alongside ten other Toa to contain it. He was one of the four Toa of Ice that imprisoned the beast in a block of ice, rendering it comatose. Though many decided to stay in the city after the battle, he chose to return home for a time. That would change years later, when the militia leader died from unknown causes. Though Tiro's mentor would officially take on his predecessor's position, many challenged it. The arguments would lead to full-blown brawls and degraded into infighting. Tiro stuck with his master until the very end, when the majority of the organization killed each-other in the chaos. Their reputation damaged beyond repair, Tiro and the other surviving members scattered to the winds. His mentor vanished without a trace, though rumors of a secret guild briefly caught his attention. Word of the Dark Hunters establishing a base of operations on his homeland caught his audio receptors, and he began developing suspicions of them being involved in his party's downfall. Toa Mangai Lhikan would eventually track him down, asking him to rejoin the Toa Mangai. Though he initially refused, he changed his mind after the Toa of Fire revealed that one of heir own died on a mission. Upon arriving at the city, he noticed that another of their own was also missing. Meeting with Turaga Dume, he learned that a Toa of Water- Tuyet - had committed crimes against the city. When he inquired about them, Dume was reluctant to answer him. He began asking around with the Matoran around the coliseum until one requested to meet him in private. He rendezvoused with him and was surprised to meet another "freelance detective"- Mafa, another Toa Mangai of Ice. This Matoran claimed to be a former guard to Tuyet, and explained to Tiro about what transpired in his absence. Tiro found the tale to be horrifying, more-so when his Kanohi Rode didn't detect a single lie. He was intrigued by the Matoran's claim of a towering beast abducting her, and both Toa were escorted to her former cell by him to investigate this. After they examined it, they concluded that the villager was telling the truth and decided to bring the evidence to Dume on his behalf. As Tiro suspected, Dume was already well aware of this and the Toa of Ice confronted him for not revealing the truth to him. The Turaga was concerned that if word of this had gotten out to the Dark Hunters, they would use it as a basis to slander the reputation of the Toa Mangai. Mafa gave in to his rage and began forming a cage of Ice around the Turaga. Tiro stopped him, warning him about the risk of drawing the Vahki's ire. Having lived through this situation with his homeland's militia, both Toa begrudgingly acknowledged the elder's decision to cover up Tuyet's treason. Five hundred years later, the Dark Hunters invaded the city of Metru Nui and attempted to conquer it. The Toa Mangai quickly found themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of operatives and barricaded into the Coliseum. One of their own- Naho - managed to slip paste their naval forces and gathered a hundred more Toa from beyond. With the additional aid, the Toa Mangai began reclaiming the city piece by piece. Tiro was known to have led a campaign to secure the Prophecies of the Knowledge Towers, fearing that the Dark Hunters would use them to exploit or change future events. He led the ground forces of Ko-Metru while Mafa dealt with the enemy Airships. The war ended with the ambush at the Canyon of Unending Whispers, where Nidhiki attempted to betray the Toa Mangai to the Dark Hunters. Lhikan had anticipated this, however, and set up a counter-ambush of his own at the same location. With the capture of the enemy participants, the War was over. Their release was negotiated, under the condition that Nidhiki be exiled with them. With the conflict over, many of the Toa recruited returned to their normal lives. The war-scarred a number of Toa, however, and Tiro set out to aid them. Once he was certain that they were fit for duty again, he allowed them to leave. Death and Legacy Nearly two years before the Great Cataclysm, Tiro noted a change in Dume's behavior. Though the Turaga would feed him many stories, he became increasingly suspicious of him. He would hide around the corner shortly after speaking with him and use his Rode to analyze the information. Most of the time, it was either bent or outright lies. He reported these findings to Lhikan, who also held similar suspicions about him. "Dume" would later summon him, another Toa Mangai, and Kodan to his quarters. Providing them with false intelligence and claims of an impending attack, he sent the three of them to seal one of the Sea Gates. Already wary of the whole situation, Tiro would take the front and often scouted ahead. He was able to get the jump on the Dark Hunter Eliminator before he would launch his own ambush. While he was busy dealing with him, his partner and Kodan sealed the Gate shut, hoping to prevent the "invasion" from coming through. Eliminator would quickly overpower him, frying his neural processor with a burst of energy. The damage to his core processor denied him revival via the Red Star. His teammate and Kodan would later share the same fate, and all three had their bodies thrown into the seas. Records of Tiro's existence and history beyond his homeland began to fade after this. It is possible that Teridax-Dume's imposer at the time- sought to remove all traces of the Toa Mangai as part of his plan to control the Matoran of Metru Nui. Lhikan managed to hide records of himself and his teammates in an unknown location, which would later be discovered by the real Dume after his rescue. The memory of him would live on in the minds of Onewa and Nuju, the former of whom would name a canyon in his honor. All surviving records would be salvaged after the restoration of Spherus Magna. Ability and Traits Though many remembered him for being as aloof as many other Toa of Ice of his generation, personal journals retrieved from the wreckage of the Matoran Universe indicated that he had a sense of loneliness. This could have developed as a result of the downfall of his homeland's militia group and the subsequent deaths of the majority of its members. Among his peers in the Toa Mangia he was said to be considerate and wise, second only to Lhikan. Mask and Tools Tablets and Memory Crystals salvaged revealed him to be a skilled swordsman, preferring a lightweight greatsword. He has also been known to wield it in conjunction with a parrying dagger. He bore the Kanohi Rode, Great Mask of Truth. With it, he would see through deception and detect traps before they sprang. Trivia * This portrayal of him was inspired by the Abyss Watchers of the Dark Souls series. His fighting style and weapons of choice alludes to the Farron Greatsword from the third game. Category:Toa Mangai Category:Ko-Matoran Category:Ice Category:Toa of Ice